Weekend Fall Fun

What a weekend! I made a bazillion cake pops or at least it seemed like it. We had a football game, Matt's school Fall Fest and Fun Run, Halloween party, birthday party, church and small group. It was a very full weekend for the Lewis house!

I have decided to take the easy way out and post a pic collage instead of uploading every single picture. That takes FOREVER sometimes.

Pretzel Boy

Just a random cute pic of my child trying to fold himself up like a pretzel. Not sure what that was all about.

By the way, the Perry the Platypus pj's are a big deal because he loves Phineas and Ferb. It took me forever to figure that cartoon out. Anyone else have problems following it at first??

Need a Laugh??

I love the website Cake Wrecks!! I can't remember how I found it, maybe my friend Karla. If you have never visited the site, you really need to check it out. You will not be disappointed.

I have this little fear that someone is going to submit one of my cakes. I do have a great photo of a cake I made my sister-in-law where I forgot to cross the "t" in birthday. Oops. The funny thing is no one noticed at the time. It wasn't until I posted it on Facebook that someone pointed it out.

Anyways, I digress.

Today, cake wrecks is highlighting all cakes "poop". As a mom, I can soooo relate and got a really, really good laugh. So check out today's post. I think my favorite are the cupcakes, they are just plain gross looking.

(I hope I didn't just break some kind of weird internet copyright law by posting this picture. If I did, I claim stupidity.)

By the way, one site my friend Karla did tell me about was Akward Family Photo. You HAVE got to take a look. You will be laughing out loud.

Yesterday

I have been dreading yesterday for quite a while. One year ago, yesterday evening, I was in the ER losing my baby and, honestly, wondering if I was going to make it. I have been dreading the arrival of this day but at the same time, looking forward to finally moving past the one year date.
This past year has been the hardest year of my life. To finally get to this day, in tact, and somehow a little stronger is something to praise God for. I still don't understand why it had to happen or even why it had to happen the way it did. But because God is God and the author of our lives, I know He had His reason and has a purpose.
This past month our church has been studying Romans 8 and our pastors challenged us to read the whole chapter daily. I usually read it or a section of it about 3 or 4 times a week. The very first day I began the challenge, Romans 8:28 just about knocked me over.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,

who have been called according to his purpose."

Then, last week when we listened to Pastor Cange preach at my in-laws church, he spoke on this very verse. I'm not sure how to say it, but hearing this Haitian pastor passionately speak about this verse was almost more then I could handle. I had one of those "hello God" moments that morning.

This is kind of odd too. Here is a list of last years events: Friday I had a MOPS meeting, ate lunch with a friend which was when I got the call from the doctor, went to a football game. Saturday went to Richard's UIL contest. Sunday went to church and evening small group at church which is when it all began.

Here is this past weekend's events: Friday I had a MOPS steering team meeting, ate lunch with the very same friend, went to a football game. Saturday went to Richrard's UIL contest. Sunday went to church and evening small group. It was almost like I got a do-over.

My post is rambling. Sorry. My head is swimming with so many thoughts but I think I will stop here. Thanks for the prayers, encouraging words, and for listening to me this past year.

My Life in Cake Pops

I made these cake pops this week as an "experiment". I think they turned out pretty cute.

When I looked at the above picture for the first time, I laughed out loud. It reminds me of some weird junior high social scene.

Specifically, from my childhood.

That's me on the right, laughing, smiling, and thinking I'm all that. That's the boy I like on the left. He's thinking "how do I get away from this goober?" The cyclopes is the weird guy who followed everyone around and watched.

Oh how I could write and write about the horrible experiences I had in junior high. I was the poster child for akward adolescent!!

If you want to order your own horror scene in cake pops, just let me know. I can hook you up!

The Evolution of Recordable Music - According to Matt

Said at dinner tonight:

Matt: Mom, did you have a swimming pool at Grandma's house when you were a little girl?

Me: No

Matt: But you did have a record player right?

Me: Yes.

Matt: Yeah, because back in the 80's everyone had a record player. Then they got smarter and invented ...what are those called....uh

Dad: CD's?

Matt: No

Me: Cassette tapes?

Matt: Yes! Cassette tapes! Then they got smarter and invented CDs. And then they got so smart that they made a computer chip and put all the music on a tiny computer chip for your IPod.

Did my son really say "back in the 80's" ?? He might as say back in the dark ages.

What can you buy for $250 a month?

A feeding station for 300 children in Pot au Prince, thats what!

Last week I wrote about a dinner guest we were having Tuesday night, Pastor Cange from Haiti. I wanted to tell you more about him and his ministry today. Pastor Cange lives and ministers in Port au Prince. He grew up in Haiti in a house that practiced voodoo, was converted by his best friend as a teenager, and went to Bible school in Jamaica.

It was very sweet to hear him talk about his friend that led him to Christ. In a nutshell, he said what affected him the most was his friend's attitude on life. He was always happy and joyful even though they were dirt poor and pretty much starving. His friend was always talking about Jesus and Pastor Cange began to realize it was Christ in him that made his friend so special.

He and his family survived the earthquake with minimal damage to their home. He told us his story and I cannot even imagine going through anything like that. For about 8 hours, he had no idea if his wife and children were alive.

Currently, he has church under tarps on an old soccer field that does not belong to him. He also has 5 feeding stations around Port au Prince. Each feeding station feeds 250 to 300 children!!

Some of the children have parents, some live with friends or family, and some have no one.

A Bible lesson is provided with the meal and I think some of the stations actually do school lessons. It might be all of them, but I am not sure. Pastor Cange is able to do this through coordinating with other pastors. He provides the food and materials and they pass it out. Sadly, he has to make "surprise" visits to make sure all is running smoothly because some of the pastors were keeping the food for their own families. It sounds horrible that a pastor would steal, but that is the reality in a fifth world country.

I wanted to share some pictures so you could see what he does. (I did not take these)

The first three images are from his feeding stations. The picture above is Pastor Cange preaching at his church. My father in law and some other men built the frame back in March.

I think it is amazing what he is doing. He could pack up his family and move to America for a "better life" . Instead, he is obeying God's calling, changing lives, and proving hope.

When we ate dinner the other night, we asked him to bless the food. It was a simple blessing but it was very moving for me. He thanked the Lord for the food, our family, and asked Him to bless our home. But, he also prayed that God would remember all those who did not have any food and provide for them. For this man, it is the cry of his heart and a reality. It is what he faces everyday. It was a very humbling and convicting moment for me. How many times have I prayed that, but it was more like a duty. Something to make me feel better about myself because I said my "prayer".

I struggled that night and shed some tears the next morning thinking about all that we have. It was hard when we came back from Haiti but it was harder the other night. I don't know how to explain it, but having this man in my home and knowing where he had been only hours before really got me. Thinking of how many times I have thrown out food, complained about our carpet, or even the silly fall arrangement in my fireplace made me want to crawl under a rock. I went from having a conversation about feeding starving and fatherless children to tripping over my child's excessive amount of toys in about one minute. Does any of this make sense?

Please don't think that I am preaching or pointing my finger at you and I did not write this to make anyone feel guilty. I also realize that there are children in my own city who are hungry and living in obscene conditions. I just know that I have to find a balance in my life and I am struggling right now.

My in laws and their church are working with Pastor Cange to help him reach his goals in regards to his ministry. He is an amazing man, doing incredible things for his country. Please keep him and his ministry in your prayers.

Creative or Wierd

The fall decorating bug finally bit me last week. I think it was caused by surfing way too many decorating/crafty blogs.

After much rearranging, this is the final product.

Yes. You are seeing correctly. I decorated the INSIDE of my fireplace with ALL of my fall decorations.

I already had the candles (they are from our wedding) and the jack-o-lanterns are from my childhood. I bought the leaf garland and extra veggies at Hobby Lobby half off. I would prefer the candles to be fall colors and different sizes but I am too cheap.

So that's it. That is all of my decorating and it is inside of my fireplace and not on my mantle.

I wonder what Pastor Cange thought while he was here on Tuesday...Probably think we are crazy. I'll tell you about him and our visit tomorrow.

Tomorrow

I am so excited about tomorrow.

First of all, my mama is coming to stay with us until Saturday. For some unknown reason, Matt thought that if he whined and cried about wanting Grandma now, she would miraculously walk through the door tonight. Sorry kid, not going to happen. She hasn't been here in awhile so we are all looking forward to her visit.

I'm not sure what we are going to do, but I think I see the Olive Garden and an early movie in our future. Should I take her to see the one about Facebook?? LOL. In case you didn't know, my mom is not very tech savvy. I don't even know what is out right now. Any suggestions??

The other thing I am excited about is our dinner guest tomorrow night. My father in law is picking up his friend, Cangey, from the airport tomorrow afternoon. Cangey is a pastor in Haiti who my in laws support and work with. He is going to spend a week with them and speak at some local churches. Wayne and Cangey are going to stop by our house on their way home for dinner.

Cangey has a feeding station in Port au Prince for children. Everyday, I think at least 100 , maybe even close to 200, children come to his feeding station where they are fed not only food but the Gospel as well. Many of these children are true street children with no family and this is the only meal they get. I admire Cangey very much because he could move his family from Haiti and come to America for a "better life". However, he chooses to stay and follow God's calling.

I have been a little nervous about what to cook. I finally decided on chicken spaghetti. Everyone likes chicken spaghetti right??

What's Cooking

Sunday - small group - I made homemade Twix bars

Monday - beef stew and cornbread

Tuesday - company is coming - chicken spaghetti, salad, homemade bread and fresh apple cake

Wednesday - Eat out

Thursday - Tacos, tamales (homemade from one of Richard's students), rice and refried beans

Friday - hotdogs

Saturday - leftovers